NEWSJimmy Kimmel Brutally Disses Donald Trump's 'Cankles' Amid Bitter Late-Night Feud
Jimmy Kimmel responded to Donald Trump’s latest criticism.
June 5 2026, Published 7:29 a.m. ET
Jimmy Kimmel is treating President Donald Trump’s latest late-night threat the way he has treated most of them: by turning it into a punchline.
On the June 2 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the ABC host responded after Trump gloated on Truth Social about the end of Stephen Colbert’s CBS show and warned that “three more limping Late Night Talk Show Hosts” could be next.
Jimmy Kimmel Hits Back
Jimmy Kimmel mocked the president’s ‘limping’ comment with a joke about his ankles.
Trump did not name Kimmel in the post, but the target was not hard to guess. The president has repeatedly called for ABC and Disney to fire Kimmel, including after a joke in April that Trump labeled a “despicable call to violence.”
Kimmel answered Trump’s “limping” insult by putting up a photo of the president’s swollen ankles.
“I’m not sure I’d be calling us ‘limping’ when you got cankles like this, honey,” Kimmel said. “It’s like they put a shoe on a balloon animal made out of sausage links.”
Kimmel also dubbed Trump “Captain Cankleroo” and noted that the president posted on Truth Social 861 times in May, averaging 27 posts a day.
“I don’t know anyone who does anything 27 times a day,” Kimmel said.
Post-Stephen Colbert Anxiety
The host addressed concerns in late-night television.
The exchange comes as late-night hosts are watching the landscape shift after Colbert’s exit. Trump celebrated the end of The Late Show and included “Low Ratings Bill Maher” in his latest attack, suggesting he is keeping score as shows and hosts he dislikes come under pressure.
Kimmel suggested Trump may have been especially irritated because Jimmy Kimmel Live! won a Peabody Award on Sunday.
“And it wasn’t a FIFA Peabody, it was a real one,” Kimmel joked.
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Jimmy Kimmel recently received a Peabody Award.
During his Peabody speech, Kimmel defended political satire as a constitutional right.
“Making jokes about the president in America shouldn’t win you a prize,” he said. “We have the right, guaranteed by the Constitution, to criticize and satirize our leaders.”
What Donald Trump Can’t Legally Do
Attorney Danny Karon said Donald Trump lacked authority to punish the comedian.
Attorney and law lecturer Danny Karon said Kimmel is protected when criticizing the president.
“Jimmy Kimmel has every right to say what he’s said about President Trump,” Karon said.
Karon noted that the First Amendment limits government action, not private employers. That means ABC could make its own employment decisions, but Trump could not lawfully use government power, including through the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), to punish Kimmel for mocking him.
“The president has no legitimate recourse to retaliate against Kimmel, whether through the [FCC] or otherwise,” Karon said. “And if the [FCC] retaliates — and ABC or Kimmel can prove a connection — the Supreme Court, which is where this dispute would undeniably end up, should rule for Kimmel and ABC.”
For now, Trump keeps posting, and Kimmel keeps answering.
